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Lawmaker Seeks Probe of Mine Agency's Vacancies

By

Robert Guy Matthews

Updated June 30, 2010 7:18 p.m. ET

A lawmaker asked the Labor Department to investigate whether vacancies in top safety positions and poor training of personnel at the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration could have played a role in the explosion at a Massey Energy Co. mine that killed 29 workers.

Sen. Michael Enzi (R., Wyo.), the ranking member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, sent a letter to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis calling for a specific investigation into whether a lack of MSHA management oversight was a factor in...